DePaul's Schiller DuCanto & Fleck Family Law Center invited Professor Shari Motro from the University of Richmond School of Law to explain the concept behind her article "Preglimony" at the February Hot Topic event.

Under preglimony, Motro said, men in unmarried relationships would financially support their partners before a child’s birth. Men would help cover costs associated with pregnancy, such as maternity clothes and medical bills. This obligation would require men to cover costs that assist pregnant women in their own right and not as an element of child support. Thus, men would have a financial responsibility even if there is no birth.

Professor Motro further proposed tax law as a way to support and reward men who already participate in the costs of pregnancy. Akin to alimony payments, preglimony could be deducted from the income of the payor and included as income for the recipient if they elected to do so. This would provide a benefit in cases in which the payor’s income is higher than the recipient's.

As Professor Motro explained in her article: “The fact is that the world in which we live leaves many pregnant women to fend for themselves. Unless and until society steps in more robustly, incentivizing men to shoulder more of the burden is preferable to the status quo, and though it will only affect the well-off, its symbolic effects are likely to spread more broadly.”